The Resurrection of Lazarus

John 11:17-27:

17Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the

tomb four days.

18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off,

19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.

20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seat-

ed in the house.

21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet

shall he live,

26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into

the world.”

I would like to begin our sermon this morning with this passage, Psalm 77:14, saying, “You

are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples.” Clearly,

one of the major characteristics you and I could expect about God is that He is a wonder-working

God. Being all-powerful, He specializes in doing impossible things that even science and nature

would not be able to explain. And this divine characteristic was openly displayed by our Lord Jesus

Christ during His public ministry. Dr. James Merritt, pastor and great expositor of God’s Word,

wrote about this truth:

“Jesus was the greatest wonder-worker who ever lived. He calmed a sea after a storm whipped it

into a frenzy. He walked on water and transformed it into wine. Jesus fed thousands with the

equivalent of a Happy Meal and never met a disease he couldn’t heal. But these miracles are

more than magic tricks. They reveal surprising truths about who Jesus is and spiritual lessons

about how we can know and relate to Him.”

The truth is that with all the amazing miracles that Jesus performed during His earthly minis-

try, the Jews, most especially the religious leaders, should not have missed seeing Jesus as the Son

of God and the Messiah. But because of the blindness and stubbornness of their hearts, they still

failed to acknowledge Him.

We don’t want to find ourselves missing out on Jesus. So, for more than a

month now, we have been studying together the Gospel of John with the theme,

“Persuaded.” As we said throughout the sermon series, the apostle John wrote

about the life of Jesus with the purpose of proving that Jesus is the Son of God and

that by believing in Him, we will receive eternal life. This morning, we will examine

the last great miracle in the ministry of Jesus Christ, which is the raising of Lazarus from death. This, I

believe, is the greatest of Jesus’ miracles for two reasons.

 It presents Jesus as having the power to give life.

 It provides us hope against our greatest fear, which is death.

Of course, the resurrection of Lazarus is a preview of what Jesus Himself will do after His

death on the cross. As we all know, the reason why we are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus

Christ is that it is the very foundation of our Christian faith. John R. W. Stott recognized this truth,

saying,

“Christianity is in its very essence a resurrection religion. The concept of resurrection lies at its

heart. If you remove it, Christianity is destroyed.”

Now, what are some important truths we must learn from this miracle of resurrection? I’m

sure we can see more, but allow me to highlight at least three:

I THE PREPARATION FOR DEATH (v. 17)

Whether we like it or not, we all need to face the fact that although we don’t know when

death is going to come, it is certainly coming. The prince of preachers, Pastor Adrian Rogers, once

said:

“Man is the only creature who knows he is going to die and is desperately trying to forget it.

Mention death, and people will change the subject more quickly than they change the television

channel.”

Is this true for you? Have you been trying your best to avoid talking or thinking about it? I

don’t think that’s the best attitude toward it. Since we don’t have control over it, we should do our

best to prepare for it instead. Considering our main text, we would find in verse 17 that the Lord Je-

sus went to Bethany when Lazarus had already been dead for four days. It is significant for us to see

that at the beginning of the chapter how Martha and Mary sent the word to Jesus that Lazarus was

sick. Let’s read John 11:1-3:

1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose broth-

er Lazarus was ill.

3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

The appeal of the two sisters for asking Jesus to come can be found in these

words in verse 3, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” It is significant for us to see that

even the people whom the Lord loves can get sick. Charles Haddon Spurgeon com-

menting on this truth, said:

“The love of Jesus does not separate us from the common necessities of infirmities of human

life. Men of God are still men.”

So, don’t be surprised when a child of God gets sick. It is even possible for the Lord to allow

this sickness to lead to their death. If you go back to the story, even after Jesus heard that Lazarus

was sick, He did not leave the place where he was, not after two days (v.6). Then, after delaying for

two days, Jesus went back to His disciples and said these words in John 11:11-13:

11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to

awaken him.”

12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”

13Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.

Here, the disciples misunderstood the words of Jesus because He referred to the death of

Lazarus as being asleep. But Jesus is using the word “asleep” in the same context that death is ap-

plied to all believers. Consider these verses that use the same reference:

1 Corinthians 15:51 (ESV):

51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

1 Thessalonians 4:14 (ESV):

14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with

him those who have fallen asleep.

The death of believers is clearly referred to in the New Testament as sleeping because that is

the appearance of the body. It is not applicable to the soul. We do not believe in the doctrine of

“Soul sleep.” Hebrews 9: 27 strongly contradicts this doctrine of the soul sleeping – And just as it is

appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Clearly, once the appointed death

happens, the soul will be judged whether they are going to either hell or heaven. While the body of

believers is asleep, it is a temporary status waiting to be permanently changed during the great res-

urrection day.

Are you prepared for the coming of death? The only way to prepare is by believing and re-

ceiving Jesus as our Savior. Without a doubt, this is the very purpose why we have the story of the

resurrection of Lazarus.

II THE PURPOSE OF DELAY (vv. 14-15, 21)

Many of you have probably heard the saying, “God's delays are not His de-

nials.” When you read the earlier verses of the chapter, you will find that the Lord

Jesus Christ intentionally delayed his going to Bethany for two days.

John 11:5-6 (ESV):

5Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6

So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he

stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

If you examine these two verses, it doesn’t seem to add up. Why? Verse 5 says that Jesus

loved the sisters Martha and Mary and Lazarus. Then, in verse 6, Jesus delayed His going to Betha-

ny. Why would you delay if you really cared for these people? Jesus Himself will answer this ques-

tion in John 11:14:

14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,

15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Jesus has plainly stated why He waited for Lazarus to die before going to Bethany. It was for

the sake of His followers so that they would go deeper in their faith in Him.

Now, let me jump to verse 21. So, on the fourth day of Lazarus' death, finally, Jesus showed

up in Bethany. As soon as Martha heard that He was there, she met Him and said, “Lord, if you had

been here, my brother would not have died.” Although you can hear her disappointment in her

words, you can also hear her faith in Christ. She really believed that Christ could have healed her

brother. By the way, how many times have we expressed the same sentiments – “Lord, if you were

here, my Dad or my Mom could still be alive today,”

This delay is a classic Romans 8:28 incident –

“

And we know that for those who love God all

things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” I know that

when we are hurting because of the loss of someone really precious to us, the last thing we want to

hear is Romans 8:28 quoted to us. I hesitate to use this verse when someone is going through tough

times. I would rather come alongside and, in silence, mourn with the person grieving. But I hope we

all will remember this verse. God would often delay His help so that He could manifest His greater

glory to us.

It was not a mistake when Jesus came on the fourth day of Lazarus' death. By this time, eve-

ryone knew that only God could bring Lazarus back to life. This leads us to our last point:

III THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE (vv. 25-26)

With Martha’s disappointment, Jesus responded by telling her that Lazarus would rise again.

When Martha heard these words from Jesus, it didn’t register to her that Jesus was about to resur-

rect her brother right there and then. She thought, yes, for sure, when all the believers will resur-

rect together. So, Jesus will reinforce His words by making an “I Am” claim in verses

25-26 - “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he

die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do

you believe this?”

Now, we should emphasize that in the Gospel of John, Jesus made seven “I Am” claims:

1. “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35)

2. “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12)

3. “I am the door of the sheep” (John 10:7)

4. “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11)

5. “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25)

6. “I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)

7. “I am the true vine” (John 15:1)

For the Jews, all of Jesus’ “I Am” statements were direct claims of divinity. It referenced the

account in Exodus when Moses asked God what name he would give to the Israelites if they asked

him - “Who is the God that sent you?” And God answered him in Exodus 3:14 (ESV):

14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has

sent me to you.’”

This title conveys the sovereignty and self-sufficiency of Jehovah God. So, when Jesus used

this title on Him, He certainly placed Himself equal with Jehovah God. And He proved it by raising

Lazarus back to life. Imagine Lazarus was already dead for four days, perhaps his body started de-

composing, and Jesus went to the place where he was buried. According to verse 43, Jesus called

him and said, “Lazarus come out.” Of course, during those times, they wrapped dead bodies like a

mummy. And to the amazement of everyone who was there, Lazarus came back to life and started

walking out of his tomb!

This is a significant miracle that we should not take for granted. Why? Here, Jesus, Himself

validates what he claimed that though we experience death if we believe in Him, we will live again

and will never die. Now, in relation to this claim, Jesus asks, “Do you believe this?”

If you are not fully convinced of Jesus’ ability to impart life, well, Jesus again will demonstrate

His ability to impart life to us by Him personally defeating death three days after He died on the

cross.

As we celebrate Christ's resurrection today, I trust we will all recognize that there is only one

person who can give us victory over death. And that is Jesus Christ. If we want to conquer death and

live eternally, all we need to do is to believe in Him. The apostle Paul declares this truth clearly in

1 Corinthians 15:55-57:

55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Again, Jesus gave His life on the cross so that He could be our source of victory over death. If,

until today, we have not believed and surrendered our hearts to Him, we should not delay in going

to Him before death comes to call. This confidence in Jesus is evident in the words of John and Eliza-

beth Stam written before they were executed by the communist soldiers of China in December of

1934:

Afraid? Of what? To feel the spirit’s glad release, To pass from pain to perfect peace, The strife,

and strain of life to cease. Afraid of that?

Afraid? Of what? Afraid to see the Savior’s face, To hear his welcome, and to trace The glory

gleaned from wounds of grace Afraid of that?

Afraid? Of what? A flash, a crash, A pierced heart Darkness! Light!

Oh, heaven’s art! A wound of His, A counterpart Afraid of that?

Afraid? Of what? To do by death what life could not Baptize with blood a stony plot Till souls

shall blossom from this spot Afraid of that?

You see, when you are in Jesus, you can welcome death because it leads to a more peaceful

and glorious life.